just what these media people and so-called “legal analysts” are smoking. Can they really be this dense? From the Orlando Sentinel:

WFTV-Channel 9 legal analyst Bill Sheaffer saw “cruelty personified” when Anthony talked to her parents in jail. “The way that she keeps lying to her mother is just as cruel as it can be,” Sheaffer said.

Anthony’s loving words to her parents in jail take the wind out of allegations that she was sexually abused by her father, Judge Alex Ferrer said on WOFL-Channel 35. “They show that the defense is really not realistic,” Ferrer said…

Another tape of George visiting Casey in jail showed him professing his love and support for his daughter. In court, Anthony dabbed her eyes as she listened to the old conversation in which George repeatedly showed his compassion. He talked about his concern for missing children, and she agreed it was an important issue. But now we know Caylee was dead, a drowning victim, according to Casey’s defense team.

WKMG-Channel 6’s Mike DeForest highlighted how George Anthony was determined to find Caylee and help missing children. “Casey Anthony now admitting that at this point her daughter was dead – she says by drowning,” DeForest noted. Her conversation on the old tapes show that Casey Anthony was acknowledging “she is allowing her daughter’s disappearance to be publicized and basically knocking out other real missing children.”

Sheaffer said George came across as a caring father in the tape. “I cannot believe that Mr. [Jose] Baez reviewed these tapes and employed the defense he employed… that the child drowned, that it was an accident and implicating the father as a monster rapist of his child,” Sheaffer said. “I just wonder if he viewed these videotapes and did so before he gave that opening.”

The implication of the defense’s opening statement – although they didn’t come right out and say it, perhaps assuming that average people’s IQ is, well, average – is that George Anthony is the one who is seriously disturbed in all this. A real psycho himself.

George, being an ex-cop, knows that all the jailhouse tapes are being made, as they are being made. And that they can be used at trial. So he uses the occasion to profess his concern “for the children” and portray himself in a sympathetic, even heroic light, while Casey goes along because, well, that’s just what she does.

Now, given the defense opening statement, any idiot can see that this is what will be argued about those tapes. In which case the tapes would prove nothing about Casey other than what we already know, but would prove a great deal about George.

Why is it that even “legal analysts” seem incapable of considering the counterpoint here? What, is lively and reasonably intelligent commentary from other points of view bad for ratings or something? People just tune in to see their prejudices confirmed and that’s it, so you just have to go with the flow and get out in front of the lynch mob? To make the sponsors happy?

I try. But I’ve been spending a little too much time on it. It’s not that I’m a big Casey Anthony fan; it’s just I can’t stand the one-sided circus. Have a circus, by all means. But there really should be some balance, if not restraint.

I first heard about this case in 2008. Then again after opening statements had been made. Was curious, mainly because of the new turn in defence . But the more I read, the more I couldn’t believe that she was being charged with 1st degree murder.

I really want to know why this case has turned out the way it has. Is it because the public demands it? Is it just politics? In my country, politics and law enforcement are separate.

A lot of it has to do with the fact that Casey Anthony is a pretty girl and there are some salacious details, like partying and “hot body contests”.

Nancy Grace is a shrill witch, but she taps into the primordial impulses that go along with this. She described it as a “Greek tragedy”. Our society affords a very lofty position to pretty girls; but the “criminal” is the lowest of the low. The sudden transition from the one to the other is very dramatic.

The tabloid mentality loves this story. Amanda Fox. Paris Hilton. Lindsay Lohan. Once the pretty girl is put in the position of becoming the criminal the whole thing takes on a life of its own.

A criminal prosecution always has the character of a runaway train if you fight it, but when the defendant is a pretty girl that aspect is greatly magnified.

The police tend to get very angry when they are lied to, and they want to punish the liar by charging them with the worst possible thing. Prosecuting attorneys rarely check this tendency because they don’t like to piss off the police, who in such cases are already pissed off. Police have a lot of political power, and prosecuting attorneys tend to have a lot of political ambition. It’s a formula for abuse of the system, but there it is.

Once the ball gets rolling, nobody has the guts to get in the way or otherwise stop it. Not the supervising cops. Not the prosecuting attorneys. Certainly not the judges, who are especially cowardly and gutless in the face of any sort of political risk.

As I’ve often asked on this blog, why do you think we have juries in the first place? Because you can’t trust judges. If judges could be trusted you wouldn’t need juries.

It’s not like that in Iceland. Not at all really. It’s kinda impossible to compare the two countries.

First of all we have one of the lowest violent crime rate in the world.
Few media outlets, so they try to keep it neutral. No media frenzy or paparazzi’s. (Celebrities love visiting Iceland)
Obviously we don’t have juries (population of 320.000).

I can’t really explain it exactly, but it’s usually just straight cut. They just follow the law and do their jobs without it getting out of hand like you explain. There have never been protests during criminal trials or reasonable doubt that law enforcement wasn’t doing their job properly.

The only time the police was seriously and publicly criticized, was in a particular high-profile missing persons case in the 70’s. Then they arrested a group of junkies and coerced confessions.

>>Anthony’s loving words to her parents in jail take the wind out of allegations that she was sexually abused by her father, Judge Alex Ferrer said on WOFL-Channel 35.<<

Actually, I have seen 'experts' claim that this supports the sexual abuse theory. Unfortunately, there is no way to tell either way.

George's words and behavior come through as chilling so long as you assume he is a monster that molested his child. But what actual evidence is there that he abused Casey? Ideally, something other than Casey's words should form part of that evidence, if it exists. Casey has lost all of her credibility through her lying.

George's actual words and deeds themselves – the ones in this post – do not mean anything by themselves. For all anyone knows, he could be sincere.

“George’s words and behavior come through as chilling so long as you assume he is a monster that molested his child.”

Exactly.

“But what actual evidence is there that he abused Casey? Ideally, something other than Casey’s words should form part of that evidence, if it exists. Casey has lost all of her credibility through her lying. ”

Not “all”. If it’s the same in Florida as I am used to, a jury will be instructed that they can believe or disbelieve as much or as little as they see fit about the testimony of any witness, including the defendant.

There are objective facts that can be argued to corroborate the molestation idea. The pathological lying itself is one such fact. The behavior during the infamous 31 days can be explained that way, or it can be explained as perhaps a dissociative reaction to having killed her daughter. What undercuts the latter is that a pattern of pathological lying predated the death of the daughter. That makes the former the more likely of the two. In fact, because the pathological lying was so prevalent for so long, there is no plausible argument that the lying is related to the little girl’s death.

I would not trust George as far as I could throw him. What kind of “evidence” of sexual abuse by him could the defense show? It isn’t as if Casey could have taken videos of George molesting her. Or have tape recordings of it. That is why most of these kinds of cases are not believed…by the parents, or any others in a family. George is an ex cop and very slick…..in his interview with Dr. Phil (a joke) he claims he more or less believed the whole story the police told and the flimsy evidence. Surprise surprise! LOL.
My opinion of this case is that George had something, or all, to do with it. I think he is the one who dumped the body hoping to make it look like a murder by someone else. I think Casey did not know where he dumped her body until it was found in December. (and don’t even get me started on Roy Kronk’s involvement). I think the defense could not accuse him of murder at the trial…..so they simply said he “found the body in the pool”. who knows, maybe it WAS an accident and little caylee got into the pool by herself. Then it is also plausible that both Casey and George tried to hide this from Cindy because she would have been livid with both of them that they did not watch the child in the house that day. (George’s words according to Baez: “your mother will never forgive you for this”.) This can never be proven of course…..George is just as much a liar as Casey. Did someone expect him to admit he abused Casey as a child on the witness stand?
I so agree with your point of view on all this….the police, the prosecutors….they made up a fictionalized account of all this at trial and THEY are to blame if blame should be assigned to anyone as to why the jury found her not guilty. Call me crazy, and many people will, I don’t believe Casey killed that child.

If George was a child molester, it helps explain Casey’s behavior. A severely damaged child and now an emotionally disturbed adult that runs from the truth. Judge Alex said that George, being a ex-cop, would know that an accidental drowning would not need to be covered-up. Not so, Judge Alex! If Caylee had a damaged or missing hymen, then George being an ex-cop would know that Caylee’s death would have to be covered-up to prevent an autopsy. If an autopsy discovered a damage hymen in a small child, someone would certainly be arrested.

Yes, George the child rapist and molester found Caylee’s body in the pool and carried her lifeless body by the playhouse to give her CPR, which he actually enjoyed. After a half an hour of CPR he picked her up again and started walking towards the house where he ran into Casey. Knowing full well the autopsy will show sexual abuse on Caylee’s body he starts to blame Casey for the drowning and tell her she’s the one that’s going to go jail for child neglect. Casey is a sobbing, panicked wreck.

George then tells Casey “I’ll take care of it, just stay here and I’ll be back”. Now George being the ex-cop he is, picks a white cotton bag that will be linked back to the house as well as 2 garbage bags to conceal the body. He then proceeds to put her in the trunck of Casey’s car (w/out Casey really knowing because she is SO upset) and him having either plenty of gas and/or gas money to get the heck out of dodge to make sure this body is never recovered, decides to drive one mile from the house and dump her on the side of the road to make the accident look like 1st degree murder.

When he returns home he finds a grieving Casey and hugs her extremely close. He tells her “We are not going to call the cops about her being missing right away, we are going to bide our time and wait for the body to decompose a mile from the house.” If and when the authorities find out about her being missing I want you to tell them the nanny kidnapped her.” I’ll play dumb and pretend to look for her BUT KNOW MATTER WHAT you must NEVER tell anyone the truth about this even if your in jail for years and years and I’m not. Now smiling he says “now get out of here and go have some fun, go enjoy your life, maybe rent a movie with your boyfriend tonight.”

Yes, this scenerio is possible but unfortunatley only in THE TWILIGHT ZONE.

Anyone wonder how Bill Schaffer can comprehend the mind of a molested child… one who has been molested since at least 13 years and controlled by the same man… as a father figure… as the person you are suppose to answer to… as the person you are suppose to love because he is your father…. How old does a child have to be to know it is not normal, but abuse to have your father all over your body? Beill Schafer knows NOTHING.